REVISED Songs for If You Are Needing a Pick-Me-Up

If your life was going well last week, I hope my post about being stuck in your feelings didn't get you down. Regardless, I hope you got something out of it. Anyway, this week, I decided we all needed a little more happiness. So, our theme is songs for If You Are Needing a Pick-Me-Up. 

For those of you who are familiar with Peanuts, you know the characters dance in the give-no-shits innocent yet completely carefree style of youth and fun. The types of songs I'm talking about are the songs that inspire that go-for-it, complete and utter exuberant mood. Hopefully this post will make your soul dance, or at least make a grin spread across your face. 

1. "Valerie" by Mark Ronson, ft. Amy Winehouse

Let's kick this off with a bang. This song is pretty well-known, and normally I would gravitate towards something readers wouldn't be likely to know as well, so as to introduce a majority to something new to them. However, I feel like this song gets forgotten in the frenzy of fast-paced songs of its era, and it's time for this one to get the spotlight.

As with all of the songs this week, the part of "Valerie" that gets you going is the beat. The verses are actually somewhat soft, but they're the build for what's coming. The chorus. It basically erupts into an explosion of ecstasy and craziness. The sheer pace of it moves too fast for you to linger on what you were upset about. It builds and builds and builds and your mood builds right with it. 

After the chorus, the song fades back down into another softer verse. It works perfectly, because otherwise the song would have way too much stimulation. If you weren't singing along from the get go, you definitely are now. The words are easy, and it seems like over half of them are Valerie.

Ronson encompasses the theme of joy and craziness through his fast-paced track and through the culminating music. A melody of "ba ba ba da da" throughout also keeps the song uplifting and fun. 

I chose to include not the original song "Valerie," but a cover done for an audition of America's Got Talent by a group named Aknu. You'll see why I chose it soon enough-- as soon as the beat drops. 

2. "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

"Home" is a work of art. It's upbeat and fun, explores the folky side to fun as opposed to Ronson and Winehouse's more soulful die. "Home" is flawless and cheerful and witty and fun in every way. This song review will basically be a point-by-point reflection of why it's so awesome.

First of all, whistling begins the song, which is basically one of the happiest sounds in history. Not just whistling, but good whistling, to a growing pitch and accompanied with a catchy beat.

Before I get ahead of myself. The beat. It's bouncy and fun and makes you bob your head from the second you hear it, regardless of whether you had a day of utter perfection or an entire week of total shit. (Take it from someone who is in the midst of the latter.) 

On top of that, the song is sung in a duet style. Okay, if you haven't figured out by now, I'm a sucker for solid harmonies. They fill a hole that can't be filled by just a single vocalist. But, on top of singing just with each other, Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos, the vocalists, play off of each other. They joke with each other. They not only provide harmony, but they provide humor. There's even a spoken word section where they talk about a time Castrinos "fell on the concrete and nearly broke your [her] ass" where they interact playfully the entire time. A song has a great emphasis when it has more than one vocalist, but it has even more emphasis when the vocalists clearly have a history and great relationship outside of the song and the music.

In summary, the joy is infectious. Ebert and Castrinos have an impeccable bond, and it spreads. Their love for each other extends out of the song and makes you feel loved as well. You feel like you're sitting around a campfire with them talking about memories and jamming out and knee-slapping and loving life. 

3. "Love Someone" by Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz is definitely one of those artists: you either love him, or you hate him. Personally, I love him. But, regardless of what you feel about him, you have to admit that he has his own style, and that he definitely has a way of making the sun shine through his songs. "Love Someone" is one of the greatest examples of that capability. 

The song opens with a chugging acoustic guitar intro that is consistent and confident. Each chord in the progression is played with certainty. That certainty translates over to the meaning of the song, and even contributes to the credibility of it and helps you believe what it says.

Mraz understands to form a relationship from the beginning. When the lyrics begin, they say something profound. The loudest verse for me is when Mraz says, "More than just a partner or a lover, I'm your friend." Being a friend takes relationships farther. It takes them beyond just attraction. Friendship is being there for someone, loving them for who they are. It makes the song personal from the beginning.

Then, the chorus enters, and angelic "oohs" encompass the music. The best way I could describe the sound would be fluttery-- light and airy, like a butterfly that finds its way into your soul and into your heart and fills you up with comfort. 

The song ends with a lyric that says "when you love someone, it comes back to you." It's a good reminder to all of us that being loved is heartwarming, but so can just opening your heart up to love and happiness and being there for other people-- and yourself. Just like with love, if you're needing to get out of a dark place, the first step is to open yourself up to it and be ready to embrace the joy to follow.

4. "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked, as performed and recorded by Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel

I'd just like to take this moment for you all to notice that Idina Menzel has done much more beyond Elsa and "Let it Go." 

Okay, anyway. This song is absolutely one of the most uplifting, self-empowering anthems you'll come across. Yes, it's from a musical about a witch and a magical land called Oz. Does that matter one bit? No. 

Throughout the musical, Elphaba, or infamously known as the wicked witch, is at battle with herself. She struggles with her identity, her confidence, and where she fits in the world. This song is the climax where she finally decides, "You know what? Fuck them. I am smart and powerful and independent. I can do this on my own. I can live my life." 

The song enters with Glenda telling Elphaba (Elphie) that she hopes she's happy for what she's done and going away from what she thought her dream was. Elphaba has decided that she's bigger than her problems, than what people think of her, and than the social constructs they put her into. 

So. Then. The song erupts into Elphaba's new found confidence. It's infectious. She wails that she's defying gravity, and nothing's gonna bring her down. Then, the song fades back down for another musical dialogue. But after that? Bam.

Defying gravity is back, stronger and more powerful than ever. And damn. Let me tell you. Idina Menzel can sing. Not only sing, she can belt it. She can wail. Theatrical instrumentation accompanies the wail. Then, on the final chorus, a gospel choir reiterates the message of the song and just further empowers it. The song doesn't end softly. It ends with an explosion of conviction and emotion. *drops mic*

The song is about a fictional character, but the meaning isn't. The meaning is for everyone. We all need to learn to block out the condescending voices, in our heads and in the world, and to live with the conviction and confidence that we're all capable of. 

All of these songs have the ability to make a bad day into a good day-- or to make a good day into a better one. It all stems from each artist's understanding of what is uplifting. Tempo, musical composition, lyrics, instruments, and overall message all play a role. However, happiness can't be forced on people. You can only inspire happiness and encourage it. If a musician can produce the right mood, by being a friend, and relatable, and fun, and open, and cheeky, then that's all they should have to do. If the right blend of music is formed, then it should be able to find a way to slither into your soul and cheer you up without you even realizing it. It'll leave you feeling like a fizzy, shaken bottle of A&W Root Beer. Hopefully, this post found a way to accomplish the same. :) 

Go out and have a great week!

REVISED Songs for If You Are Stuck in Your Feelings

One night this past week, I was playing guitar, and something hit me. I began to wonder why I've managed to completely avoid all of my favorite guitar songs. Then I realized: it's because they're what I play when I'm at my most vulnerable. 

I'm terrible at letting my guard down, and showing people that I'm not always the cheery, giggly person I appear to be. By sharing these songs, I'm leaping out of my comfort zone to share one of the deepest, innermost aspects of my being. These selections encompass who I am and get me stuck in my emotions in a way that almost nothing else can. They have a level of artistry and vulnerability that I have found unmatched by any other. That is why they must be shared.

1. "The Scientist" by Coldplay

This track is... heavy. The song opens with intense, pounding chords on piano that imitate the density of the song, its message, and its mood. Then the lyrics begin. "Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard..." seizes the heart and, through the lyrics and the music behind them, summarizes what a person feels when they're going through something: that is is hard. It's impossibly burdensome. That you knew life wouldn't be easy, but you didn't expect it to hold such gravity, either. 

The song culminates with substantial, dark electric guitar chords. They constantly reinforce the mood. As the song starts to die, haunting "oohs" fade out. It's like a final shrug- something that was too uncertain for words, so it didn't try to be. You don't know where you're at, and you don't know where you're going, and you don't know when it'll be okay again.  

Songs can bring a lot of emotion by sheerly listening to them, but they bring that much more depth and feeling when they interact with the world. Your world. This song always hit a chord for me, but it didn't gain its full level of knock-over impact until the beginning of this year, my freshman year of college. I was singing and playing guitar one night, when my  friend Jon entered and started harmonizing with me. I don't know what it is about harmonies that is so transcendent: something about two people working together in opposite yet perfectly together ways producing such a fulfilling sound. Then, another girl, whom I had never met, came in and added a third level of harmony. The first song ended, and I suggested this one, "The Scientist." By then, we had a group of about 15 people congregated in my small dorm room. The song began, and shortly after, the lyrics. Our three voices culminated to a place that I'd never ventured to before. The song pulsed through the veins of the room. It was the most vulnerable intimacy that I had ever experienced in a group setting- and we were a group of near strangers. As the music faded, the room was visibly left changed. My resident mentor, with whom I had a relationship that didn't extend beyond knowing each others' first names, was still emotional when she left moments later. A wave of emotion, of sheer vulnerability and translucence, had washed over the room, over our voices, over all of us. And everyone had felt it. 

2. "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" Original Song by The Proclaimers// Cover by Sleeping at Last

The original version of this song has the same lyrics, but I can not stress enough how completely opposite the tempo and mood of it is. It's vibrant, and exuberant, and fast-paced, while the cover is morose, and lingers over the lyrics. The version of the song I'm talking about, for the purposes of this post, is the cover of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" done by Sleeping at Last. 

The song opens with similar heavy, banging piano chords to "The Scientist." When the lyrics begin, the listener almost gasps in awe at the sound of pain in the wail of the artist's voice. It sounds intense, I know, but it kind of is. Don't be scared of the intensity. Embrace it. The effect it'll have on you will be powerful.

The song is about a man saying he'll do whatever he has to do to reach his love. The wail of his voice and the burdensome piano are enough despite the lyrics, but if the listener is missing someone, the effect is even more powerful. The thing about this song is that even if you're not missing someone, it'll make you miss someone. You feel fulfilled in that others feel what you're feeling, but you feel a growing hole at the absence of someone you love. The song fills one void in your heart and makes another. 

When I originally wrote this post, I kept trying to go to where I explained the impact of this song, but I never quite got to that point. Gaining some distance and perspective being at college has allowed for me to better understand why this song is so powerful. 

"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" became a favorite for me, and I played it around the house a lot when I lived at home. My dad eventually heard it, liked it, and added it to his own playlist. It quickly became one of his personal favorites. My dad and I don't have a great relationship. A lot of history stems back to when I was younger, and our relationship still stands on an incredibly rocky foundation because of it. Hearing him love and appreciate this song so much was difficult because we could both gain so much out of listening to it, but never had we achieved that sort of depth in conversation with each other. That just goes to show that this song can be impactful for anyone, regardless of background or age or anything in between. It can unite people and make them appreciate what they have-- and miss what they don't. 

3. "I Go to the Barn Because I Like The" by Band of Horses

In all honesty, I came across this song on Netflix in an episode of Psych. The show is about a jokester guy pretending to be a psychic and working with the local police department, and is consistently light-hearted and comical. In this episode, however, it was different. Juliet, a lead character and the head detective's partner, gets taken captive by a serial killer. The clock is literally ticking down to her death; she is tied to a clock tower and when the hands finally tick down just so, she will plummet helplessly to her death. There is nothing Juliet can do to save herself. Her mouth is taped, but her eyes show fear to their farthest depths. Her partner makes it to her with seconds to spare. Then, this song begins to play. Through silent action, with only "I Go to the Barn Because I Like The" audible, Juliet is seen distressed talking to an officer at the scene. Then her partner walks over to her, and shoos the officer away. Juliet moves in a way to show that she's fine, that she doesn't need him, that she'll be okay. But then Juliet, who had always been strong and never shown an ounce of vulnerability, breaks down and weeps helplessly into her partner's arms. It made me feel something so entirely and fully and deeply and intensely that I watched the scene over and over and over again. 

The song actually opens somewhat lightly. The guitar is acoustic and light and airy. But then the lyrics begin. The song is sung with a falsetto melody and a dark, gruff yet not raspy harmony. The melody is sung with the same vocal quality as Ryan O'Neal of Sleeping at Last. There's a wail and a pain there beyond what the lyrics are saying. As a listener, you can feel what the artist sings. You don't have to relate exactly to what the lyrics are saying; you can relate to the pain in the voices. The blend of the anguished voices and the more sanguine acoustic and electric guitar holds a powerful message of the facade that people are okay when they really aren't. 

The most impactful part of the song is the final verse. It is repeated three times, and each time, it grows denser. Deeper. Weighs more on your heart. I think it's repeated that many times to really let it sink it-to really let it take its effect. By the end of the song, it's like an icy breath has touched you that you've never felt before. 

4. "Rivers and Roads" by The Head and The Heart

Where do I begin with this anthem. The beat is like lava that fills your soul. The harmonies alone are enough to make you soft sob. Gosh. They're just spot on. The song's  passion makes you stuck in your feelings in a sense of nostalgia.  It can become a sort of anthem: something you listen to when you're down. But, it has a way of both fulfilling your need for exposed sensitivity while also lifting you up. 

No combination of words in the English language could hope to portray how this song has impacted me. It was a favorite the moment I first heard it. Then, I later shared it with a friend during a guitar jam session one night. You have to remember, guitar and singing is how I vent, and my friends know that, so this song spoke louder than any words I could hope to articulate. I think my friend recognized this, and we got exceptionally closer after that. My friend grew to love and appreciate the song just as much as I do. Friend isn't even a strong enough word for this person. We've opened up to each other, and helped each other, through some of the toughest trials of our lives, both past and present, and honestly without her I wouldn't have the confidence in myself to be opening up and writing this review right now. This song stands on such a monumental base of trust and unguarded openness that it brings me such sadness when I listen to it, yet also such comfort. It finds a way to combine comfort and sadness- to let you cry on its shoulder. 

The chords are played softly in the beginning, and when the singers enter they sing with hushed voices, too. Throughout the song, the volume culminates to an emotional high, with pounding strums and vivid vocals. At the very end, it returns to its subtle whisper. It goes softer so your heart truly listens and feels it. 

I decided to close with this song because it does come from a heavy place, and it brings fierce emotion with it, but it also uses major chords and harmonies in such a way that instills in the listener that life will go on. 

All of these songs say a lot about our culture: as a generation, and as a day and age. In this generation, in this age, it's becoming less and less common for people to admit vulnerability and admit when they're struggling. People bottle it up, or put on a facade that they're okay, and don't admit when they really are dealing with a lot or really need help (myself included). These songs are outlets for the people that wrote them, and become outlets for the listener, to find a way to say what they're feeling, to have a way to let it all out. They show, in an alternative way, that our culture hasn't totally forgotten that emotions are okay-- and that it's okay to be stuck in your feelings and express your full range of emotions to the world.

So. If you are one of those people who's going through more than the world knows, or more than you've admitted to the world, just know this: That you're not alone. That there are people here for you. And, most importantly, that it may take Scientists, or traveling 500 Miles over tons of Rivers and Roads, but you have the strength to get through it.